Raghav and Prema Shetty's senses are assaulted the moment they walk out of the airport in the southern Indian city of Chennai. They're blinded by the bright sun and begin to sweat in the humid 39-degree heat. The Canadian couple stare at dozens of drivers all holding up signs and calling out names of passengers they've been sent to pick up.

The Shettys spot their name on a piece of paper and follow the driver to the car. It's a long walk for Mr. Shetty. Even with the painkillers he's taken this morning, his hip causes him sharp pain with every step. It's the reason he's travelled halfway around the world.

"I'm in extreme pain," Shetty told me as we drove along a bumpy road from the airport to the hospital. "I'm stuck at home, I can't work. It is difficult for me to provide financial support to my family and the quality of my life is very bad."

Shetty has come to India for a partial hip replacement surgery. He was told he would have to wait up to 2½ years for the operation if he stayed in Calgary where he's lived for the last 20 years.

There was no waiting list at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai where he's decided to have the surgery. When Shetty moved from India to North America 36 years ago he never imagined he'd be coming back for medical treatment.

"Of course, my first choice would have been always Canada," he said. "I could manage for three months or at the most six months, but waiting for anywhere from 1½ to 2½ years is too long."

There are about 25,000 people waiting for surgery or diagnostic scans at hospitals in Calgary. Cities across the country face similar backlogs. Many people have to wait for up to a year just to see a specialist who then assigns the patient to the growing queues.

Surgery in India is much cheaper than in the West and there is usually no waiting list. The bill for Shetty's operation is about $6,000; that's a quarter of what it would have cost in the U.S. Even so, the cost of the trip and the operation will be a strain on the family. Provincial health-care programs have reimbursed some Canadian patients who have come to India but others like Shetty have to pay almost the entire cost.

Medical tourism to India is growing by about 30 per cent per year. The Indian government is trying to attract more foreign patients by promoting the country as a health care destination and by giving tax breaks to participating hospitals.

Many of India's biggest hospitals have modern medical equipment and doctors that have been educated in the U.S. or the U.K. Apollo Hospitals say they have treated about 60,000 foreign patients in the last three years. Most of them come from neighbouring countries and the Middle East, but a growing number are coming from Canada.

I found British Columbia's Rod Bieller recovering from a partial hip replacement surgery at a five-star resort near Chennai. Like Shetty, Bieller says he was in severe pain and couldn't handle a long wait.

"Life is too precious. I'm in my early 50s and I have lots of things to do in my life and one of them isn't lying at home in pain," he explained as we sat by the swimming pool at his hotel.

"I'm a Victoria firefighter. I have been for 29 years and I don't want to retire that way, you know, with a disability."

Bieller came alone to India. He had high praise for the doctors and nurses at Apollo, but he said he felt lonely being so far from home.

The Shettys also wished they could have had their family around for support. I visited Prema Shetty in the middle of her husband's five-hour surgery. She was sitting alone in their room at the hospital working on a crossword puzzle. Before she left Canada, her daughters had given her several puzzles and games to help keep her mind occupied during the operation, but nothing could keep her from worrying about her husband.

"I feel panic," she said. The doctors had assured her that the operation was not life threatening, but having your 61-year-old husband under the knife for such a long time can't be easy. Her three daughters, two in Calgary and one in Seattle, had already called a few times for an update. With her children and her son-in-law more than 10 time zones away, Prema Shetty felt alone and afraid.

The next day she seemed like a different person from the nervous wreck she'd been during the operation. "I'm so happy, so happy. I know that he is still in pain because of the surgery, but I'm sure he'll be all right within a couple of days. He will walk and we won't have to see him in pain so it makes us all very happy."

Her husband was surprisingly alert. He said he was still experiencing some discomfort but that he expected to be able to start walking in a few days.

Shetty was happy to have the operation over with but he says he hopes Ottawa can do something to clear up the long waiting lists so that other Canadians won't have to choose between living in pain and travelling to faraway places for surgery.

The Shettys will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary next year. By then Raghav's hip should be strong enough to take his Prema out dancing.